Make Believe
by The Genius Mage
Summary: Even if it wasn't real, she had to believe it was. If she didn't use it as her artificial light in the very real darkness, she didn't see how she could survive. AquaxTerra, Aqua and Ven friendship. Giftfic. Massive BBS spoilers.


_~*.Make Believe.*~_

_Make believe. It'll protect you from the lies, even if only for a moment._

_~***~_

The Dark Meridian was a forbidding place. The moon was constantly out, shedding a bright white light that gave a strange clarity to everything. The beams rebounded off of the dark blue boulders that were riddled with strange, glowing white lines…exotic lichen, perhaps? The dark sand made no effort to resist the crashing navy waves, and here, even the Unversed didn't venture.

Here, she was completely alone.

Aqua knelt down by the ocean, letting the roaring waves come within an inch of her metal shoes, but no farther. She laid her head on her knees and closed her eyes. Her heart was starting to poison itself with negative emotions, and she struggled to repress them.

It was her fault, she bet. Somehow.

Maybe if she had reacted differently, been smarter or faster or stronger, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't be losing track of the time…here, even her body didn't seem to age. Everything about the realm was bleakly dark and repetitive. The same.

Maybe, if she had been smarter, she could have saved Ven before he lost his heart.

Maybe, if she had been stronger, she could have defeated Xehanort before he put Terra in such danger. She just had a wing and a prayer now, hoping he was okay…

Maybe, if she had been faster,_ all_ of this could have been avoided.

"We'd all be Masters by now…" Aqua said to herself, just to hear a voice, just to hear _something_ besides the waves and the phantom call of a time lost seagull.

Lost. Like her.

She was the only Master, really. Out of the three apprentices, only she had passed the Qualification Exam. Master Aqua.

Her lip curled contemptuously. Master Aqua, indeed. What a load of help _that_ title was.

Burying her face in her hands, Aqua closed her eyes and simply let her thoughts wander. She had all the time in the world, after all. All the time to muse over every mistake she had ever made in her entire life.

~***~

Insanity.

She feared it was starting to come. Surely that had been a trick of the light? Aqua squinted, daring herself to look harder. Someone was by the seashore, farther down the beach than she was. Someone with golden, windswept hair and…

Her heart jumped to her throat. It couldn't be.

Aqua blinked, rubbed her eyes, pinched herself, and did anything that could possibly reveal that the form in front of her was an illusion. No dice. It seemed that the Ventus before her gaze was very real. Hardly daring to breathe, as if her breath would disturb his image and send him away in particles, she quietly approached him and reached a hand out, whispering, "Ven?"

_Impossible. He's gone._ Aqua bit her lip. _Or he's safe, in Castle Oblivion. Unless he got his heart?!_

Ven said casually to her without looking, "See this pebble? I bet I can skip it farther than you!" He flicked a big black rock across the surface of the waves, sending it shooting forward like a bat out of hell.

"I—I'm daydreaming. I'm having a nightmare. This is a hallucination." Aqua clenched her head and growled. "Go away."

"Gee, what did I do?" Ven's form seemed to glow faintly, giving out an orangey-gold light. He frowned, blue eyes shining with mischief. "Don't tell me that was your favorite rock!"

Aqua felt her heart cascade continuously against her chest. Oh dear God why was her mind playing tricks on her? Why? Had she really sunk _that_ low? "Ven. You're not real," she said almost scornfully.

"Well _that's_ not nice. You're acting like I'm a Nobody or something!" He folded his arms behind his head and gave a cheeky grin.

"A…Nobody?" Aqua rolled the unfamiliar term off of her tongue.

"Never mind. Say, have you seen Terra?"

Aqua's ribcage seemed to vibrate with each thump. "N-no," she managed to choke out. The sea continued to climb towards them before sliding into the main bulk of itself with an irritated sigh, causing the pebbles to rattle.

"He's looking for you," Ventus encouraged. "Go find him! He's walking around here somewhere."

"W-what about you?" Her bravery faltered. It had never failed her before, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to face these phantasms of her friends. It would surely send her deeper into madness.

"Terra wants to see you, alone. Beats me. Maybe it's a 'thank you' for saving his butt! And mine." Ventus smiled again, but Aqua was not reassured.

"How do I know you're not some Unversed?" She said doubtfully.

Ven heaved a dramatic sigh, ruffling the lowest spikes on his wild hair. "I guess you don't," he admitted. "But trust your heart on this one."

He turned away and suddenly vanished before Aqua could even react, and she was left staring at the golden sparkles that lingered in the air after his departure. Then they, too, faded.

Aqua was faced with a choice, she realized. And even if all of this was a twisted fantasy, she welcomed the challenge. She could either go find Terra, or admit that this was all false and go back into her pathetic state…

_I don't _feel_ crazy…_The Keyblade Master thought. _But I guess you can't really tell._

Her curiosity got the best of her, and eventually the blue haired woman set off down the dark shores of the beach, not sure what to expect. She half wished that she would encounter Terra, but the other half of her desired some kind of battle. An Unversed posing as her friend, maybe. Either way, she hoped for the best but expected the worst.

Moonlight illuminated a crouched silhouette after what seemed like an age of wandering. Aqua's heart constricted and instead of beating quickly, seemed to slow down to a steady tempo. It was Terra all right, with his brown hair and dark blue eyes. But he was strangely translucent, more so than Ven, but with the same peachy glow.

He turned, sensing her approach, and stood up in one fluid motion. Before Aqua could react, he caught her in a bear hug. "Aqua!"

She froze, realizing that she _felt_ the warmth of his skin and the soft locks of his hair. Aqua cleared her throat before gasping, "Y-You're actually…"

He pulled back, keeping a firm grip on both of her shoulders. Terra's gaze turned a little sad. "I'm…not really here, Aqua. But in a way, I am…I mean…" He looked as confused as she felt.

"What?" She said softly, almost in objection. "Are you and Ven both…?"

Terra let his arms fall slack, dropping his eyes. "There's too much to explain. But it concerns my heart, and Xehanort's."

"I've got time," Aqua said with a trace of humor in her tone.

"Yeah, you do. I don't." Terra ran a hand through his hair before saying so quietly that she barely heard, "You blame yourself, don't you?"

She dipped her head and didn't say a word.

"It's not your fault. Don't even _think_ for a moment that is." He gently tipped her head back up and gave her a grin that didn't quite touch his eyes, though his tone was sincere.

Aqua shrugged helplessly, still keeping her eyes averted. "It's just…Maybe if I had—"

"Look, quit beating yourself up over it! This isn't your fault." He repeated. Terra was silent for a long time until Aqua realized he wanted her to look at him, and with an effort she flicked her gaze to his. Azure and dark sapphire. "Besides, you can still help us."

"How? I'm stuck here."

"For now, maybe." Terra admitted. "But you will be free soon. Just wait for the Keybearer, he'll help you. He'll help us all."

"How do you know?" She asked a little suspiciously. Living alone for uncounted hours had certainly raised her paranoia.

He leaned in so close that their faces almost touched. She felt the ethereal breath from the faintly shining specter on her skin, but Aqua couldn't tell if she was still hallucinating.

_Is any of this for real…or not?_

"Trust me on this one. Do you trust me?"

"Of course," Aqua replied a bit guiltily.

A smile. "Then wait. Just a little longer. Thank you, for everything you did, though I was probably the most stubborn male in the universe at that time." When Aqua laughed for what felt like the first time in years, Terra pressed his lips to hers, catching the Keyblade Master completely by surprise.

A tingle surged through her entire system, short circuiting her senses. It was like the unbelievable had suddenly become ordinary. Aqua had never been a romantic girl. Such things had rarely crossed her mind, and when they did, she often felt unbelievably embarrassed with herself, like how she had felt when Zack had asked her on a date.

_I _have_ to be dreaming._

But the warm touch of his mouth certainly felt real. It took several heartbeats for him to break contact, and when he did, Terra circled his arms around her and held her close. Aqua, used to being by herself for so long, almost pulled away. He gently stroked her hair, as if sensing her discomfort, and she gradually relaxed enough to whisper, "What was…that for?"

She felt the laughter before it actually emerged, a vibration in his chest. "Don't tell me you haven't wanted to try that before," he teased with a grin that she didn't even have to look up to see. She just knew it was there.

Aqua thought back to her apprentice days—like everything else, it felt like a distant lifetime. Someone else's. Not hers. With Ventus, she had always seen him as a little brother. A very dear, beloved little brother granted, but a brother all the same. Nothing more. With Terra, she had seen him as…a very close companion. Now fleeting memories made their way through her mind, lingering touches and long stares that resulted in them both turning their heads away, blushing…

It had always been there, she thought, but it had been buried underneath all the chaos that the X-Blade business brought.

"That was a thank you," Terra said quietly into her ear. Aqua smiled faintly.

"You're welcome?" She offered hesitantly.

"Still think this is a daydream? A mirage? I could tell from your facial expression. You looked really skeptical." Terra chuckled again as if it was hilarious, and God, how she missed his laughter. And Ven's too. She wished they were both here.

Terra's amusement suddenly faded, to be replaced with the cold reality of the warrior that she knew. "Time is very short…remember what I told you, okay?"

"Wait for the Keybearer," Aqua dutifully murmured. "Are you sure he'll help?"

Terra gave her a wink as she looked up to study his face. "Don't worry; this is a kid after Ven's heart. Two of a kind. Birds of a feather."

"And you?"

"And me…?" Terra blinked and he let his arms fall so that Aqua could face him fully. She realized that he was fading fast, becoming more transparent every second. Stars were visible through his body, silver dots of cold fire. "You'll see soon. But I'm fine for now. I'll be fighting Xehanort every step of the way."

Unsure what to say, Aqua simply smiled. "Be brave."

"You too. You'll need it more. Good luck, Aqua. Don't lose faith. See you soon." Unexpectedly he kissed her again, but this touch was only very brief, just a tender brush. But it did so much more than the first.

A strange golden surge seemed to electrocute Aqua's veins, and she gasped, pulling away in time to see Terra's final smile before his fractured blue gemstone eyes faded from sight. The energy continued to pulse inside of her, and she felt it messing with her system, destroying the tendrils of self doubt and pity that had festered inside of her for so long.

To the time lost Keyblade Master, she suddenly felt whole. And very much alive. The kiss—if it had been simply that—seemed to clear her mind entirely. Her heart purified itself once more, and she closed her eyes, clasping a hand over her heart with a small smile of elation. It was like Terra had touched something deep inside of her, and it resounded like a ringing bell, chasing away all of the shadows.

For the first time in a very long time, Aqua was fully herself. And she wasn't tired at all.

When her azure eyes reopened, they shone with a new radiance and determination. She realized that Terra must have given her his last bit of light, and as impossible as it sounded, he had shocked Aqua into her old state of mind.

She blinked, and her grin widened. And Aqua turned; walking away from the spot that Terra had been a moment before.

A cheery whistle split the air, breaking the Dark Meridian's rhythmic "silence". Her friends were doing fine for now. Moping around wasn't going to help. The Keyblade Master decided to wait. She wasn't Master Eraqus's best and brightest for nothing.

~***~

It was quite a long time, but Aqua let herself forget the exact number. But it had indeed been years. She knew as soon as she had finished talking with Ansem the Wise that her waiting was over. A star had fallen, a destiny was unraveling, and somewhere coming for her was that boy that would change her life.

She and the Keybearer, Sora, would soon go after her friends. They would reunite for the first time in a long time.

During her stay in the Meridian, Aqua had never seen Terra or Ven again. Though sometimes, she saw a pebble skip across the sea or heard a whistle answer her own. Or when she was resting by the seashore, she imagined that someone had caught her in a hug once, saying a certain set of three words that turned her face rosy red, but when she turned around, no one was there.

Aqua was never truly alone.

Ventus—as much as he could be—was beside her. They would both go rescue Terra…

And maybe, she'd get to tell him those three words too.

~***~

_**All right. This fiction is for Kiome-Yasha. She writes awesome RoxasxNamine, may I recommend checking her page out? I've been meaning to write you a Terra and Aqua fiction ever since you said you liked it!**_

_**Also, this is for Dani-Chan-Sprite-Monster -13-. She also likes Terra and Aqua, so this is for you too. Check her stories out also! Do yourself a favor!**_

_**To everyone else, it probably sucks but you're welcome to review. XD**_

_**Yes for those that might be reading Disciples of the Keyblade, I am nowhere near done with it. **_


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